“I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will.”-Tupac Shakur

I began this journey with the LEAD Office not necessarily believing that I had the ability to impact others. I knew that I could influence friends and mentor teens, but I didn’t truly understand how to harness my strengths to make a difference in the lives that I touched. During this experience, I have grown as a mentor and feel that I have gained necessary skills for contributing to the growth and development of my peers.

As Leadership Consultants, we are entrusted with the ability to share our knowledge and understanding of leadership to students across campus. Facilitating activities for various different organizations and student leader groups has allowed me to gain the necessary skills to engage students in conversations about leadership and foster growth. For instance, I have been given the opportunity to facilitate the Emerging Leaders class twice during my time with LEAD and I continue to claim that as one of my favorite programs. Being able to develop a model that allows students to learn the core values of Mason Leads and grow through the 8-week experience has been highly gratifying for me as I see individuals truly engage with the topic of leadership and social change.

The experiences I have had in LEAD have been transferable across my various leadership roles on campus. During one of my resident advisor meetings, I was able to bring the True Colors facilitation to my small staff and work with them to understand their leadership styles. Being able to share my experiences with my other communities around campus has truly helped me further reflect on how I can serve the Mason community as a whole.

This competency has become the most relevant for me as LEAD has continued their community partnership with Godwin Middle School. For the past 3 years, LEAD has been providing leadership development opportunities for the students at Godwin Middle School in the form of workshops and conferences. This year, we will be hosting our 3rd Annual InCredAble Conference. This conference is an all-day leadership opportunity that brings together more than 30 Mason student volunteer facilitators from a variety of organizations and experiences across campus. They commit to facilitating a small group of teens and hosting workshops around specific topics such as community service, career development, professionalism, and more.

Students also volunteer throughout the year at Godwin by facilitating workshops during two different 7th grade gym class periods. As Leadership Consultants, we recruit and train about 20 volunteers per trip and work with them to facilitate workshops around topics such as conflict resolution, communication, team building, and more. These facilitation opportunities are mutually beneficial to both Godwin and Mason students, as they provide a hands-on leadership opportunity for Mason students while giving Godwin students access to mentorship and growth from current student leaders.

I have personally committed myself to the growth of the Godwin Middle School Leadership Program by serving as a volunteer and committee coordinator for the past two years, along with my fellow Leadership Consultants. This involves recruiting committee members from a variety of campus organizations and departments, coordinating meetings and planning timelines, and serving as a facilitator for idea sharing and discussion during the committee meetings. This has provided me the opportunity to work with freshman and sophomore students who are seeking to enhance their leadership abilities through service and action. I have seen these students grow immensely in the past year and take on voluntary responsibilities far beyond what is expected of them. It has been empowering to see these students step into this responsibility and take ownership of this program.

Finally, one of the greatest roles that Leadership Consultants experience is mentoring the L-TEAM. L-TEAM is an amazing organization that always promises to introduce passionate, unique, and dedicated students to the office. It is how I personally got involved in the office my freshman year and it definitely holds a special spot in my heart. The students who join L-TEAM are almost always outstanding leaders who are looking to grow and better themselves through the organization. Being able to come up with activities and conversations that may be important for them as leaders has allowed me to grow right along side them and learn through the way that they respond to various activities.

Overall, I believe that my purpose and calling is to support the growth and development of those around me. I look forward to putting the lessons that I have learned into action as I enter the field of Student Affairs and serve the many students who come my way.